The Mentalist: Odd Moods
by Alasse Fefalas
Summary: Takes place in the first year of Jane joining the team. Lisbon's been acting strange that week and Jane wants to know why. [One-shot]


Odd moods

By Alasse Fefalas

A/N: Not sure where I was going with this, but it just came out. There's barely a plot, and I had no idea what to title it. Even so, I hope you enjoy it! It might be a little OOC, sorry. I was aiming for early!Jane and early!Lisbon.

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There was something off about her. Jane noticed her mood was different that week. It started with sombre, going to easily agitated, to angry with people slacking off, and finally back to sombre. There was something definitely off about her.

Jane watched Lisbon pace in her new office from his couch, wondering what was wrong with her. Period? Nah, he's known her for a few months now and her mood doesn't change this drastically during her time of the month. The door to her office opened up suddenly and she stalked out to the desks where her team worked. Jane sat up in anticipation. Maybe she would say something that would give away the reason behind her mood swing.

"I'll be on leave for the weekend. Cho, you're team leader. Anything happens, you deal with it," She gestured to the Asian man who simply nodded. "Jane, you're under Cho for the time being. Anything happens, you report to him. Understand?"

Jane looked at Cho and asked, "Can I hyptonize anyone?"

"No."

"No."

"No."

Jane shrugged. Three simultaneous rejections from the whole team spelled a resounding 'no'. "Ah, then it'll be an uninteresting weekend," Jane said.

"Uninteresting is good," Lisbon said.

"You going anywhere this weekend, Boss?" Rigsby asked Lisbon.

"I'll be out of town," Lisbon replied simply.

"Alright. No calls then," Rigsby noted.

Lisbon nodded and thanked him. With nothing else to say, she just looked at the three of them one last time and turned to go back into her office.

"Where's she going? Holiday? She looks like she needs one after this week," Jane said.

"Not our place to say, dude. She's the boss," Rigsby said, shaking the pen in his hand at the other man.

"Ah, but you know where she's going," Jane deduced.

"He didn't say he didn't," Cho said.

"And neither of you are going to tell me. Okay. Fine."

Rigsby and Cho smiled at each other and went back to the paperwork on their desk. Jane raised an eyebrow at them. They were hiding something from him, something about Lisbon. This made him more curious about her weekend trip out of state. Standing up, he started toward the office.

Knocking on the door, he read the newly pasted name on the glass. "Teresa Lisbon, Senior Agent."

"Well, you've demonstrated your literary skills. Do you need anything else, Jane?" Lisbon said grumpily as she opened the door and stood at the frame. Funny nowadays she had that tone with him. He didn't know what he did to warrant it. Well, okay, he did. But that was just unfair.

"Still upset about me sneaking into the house yesterday, eh?"

"Among other things."

"May I come in?"

"Why?" Her eyebrow rose in suspicion.

Pushing the other door open, he stepped in and sat down on the chair opposite her desk. He heard an angry sigh from the brunette behind him and smirked. He loved getting her riled up.

"What do you want, Jane?" Lisbon asked irritatedly, sitting on her chair.

"Nice furnishing, Lisbon," Jane said, ignoring her question. Lisbon glared at him, her hands inching towards the large stapler on her desk. Before she could throw the stationery at him, he added, "Couldn't help but notice you're going out this weekend."

"And...?"

"I'm curious, that's all."

"You're the fake psychic; Figure it out," Lisbon said sarcastically as she went on filling her reports.

Jane studied her for a moment - her tense shoulders, the frown on her face, the taut line of her mouth. "If I were to guess," Jane started, only to get interrupted by Lisbon.

"That was sarcasm, Jane. Not a challenge," Lisbon said directly.

"No, you want someone to find out, don't you?" Jane said seriously.

"No."

"Well, you're going to Chicago tomorrow. That much I've figured out," Jane said under Lisbon's glare. "And it has something to do with your past, am I right?"

"Educated guess. I am from there after all," Lisbon said, unimpressed.

"Your mother," Jane said and Lisbon stiffened in her chair. Jane shrugged. "You hate drunkards but you drink when you think about your father and especially when we close a case that has a relation to drunks. You don't look worried enough for it to be any of your brothers, so it has to be your mother. Anniversary?"

"How did you...?" Lisbon asked, slightly more surprised than annoyed.

"You're easy to figure out," Jane smiled.

"I am not!" Lisbon denied hotly. "Also, it's none of your business. You're just the consultant of the team. And I don't talk about my personal life."

"Come on, Lisbon. You can tell me. You know if you don't, I'll find out sooner or later anyway." Jane leaned forward and looked straight into her eyes.

Lisbon stared at him. He saw it in her eyes that she knew he was right. When she sighed, he knew he had won.

"Yes, it's the twentieth anniversary of her death. Happy now?"

"See, Lisbon. That wasn't so hard was it?" Jane said, leaning back against the chair and smiled.

"Shut up."

"Do you want me to accompany you?" Jane asked.

"Huh?"

"To Chicago."

Lisbon looked at Jane incredulously. The man must have gone mad. "No, Jane. I'm going alone."

"Arr you sure? It's a long ride over. I don't mind accompanying you," Jane smiled.

"No," Lisbon said resolutely.

"Fine then. But you know you'll miss me," Jane grinned.

"Miss you? Please. I can't wait to get away from you! Now get out of my office! I've a lot of work to do, unlike some people who refuse to help with the paperwork."

"Meh, paperwork," Jane said, getting up from the chair.

"Hey," Lisbon called to Jane before he walked out of her office.

Jane stopped in his tracks and turned to her. "Yes, Lisbon?"

"I'll be fine."

"Yes, yes you will be," Jane agreed, causing her face to redden slightly.

"Good. Now out you go," Lisbon shooed him out with her fingers.

"I'm going, I'm going," Jane grinned and walked out.

End

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A/N: Reviews are much appreciated! Thanks for reading!


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